This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 2002-332497 filed in JAPAN on Nov. 15, 2002, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf ball having a mark thereon, more particularly to a golf ball which has an improved luster (brilliance) and visibility of the mark without lowering the durability of the mark.
2. Description of the Related Art
A golf ball generally has printed marks representing a brand name, a play number and the like on a surface of the golf ball body. The play number is a numeral or the like which is printed separately from the brand name. The play number allows golfers playing together to distinguish their respective balls from each other, even if the balls used by them are of the same sort. A commercially-available one-dozen golf ball carton, for example, contains four groups of golf balls bearing four printed play numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7, respectively, each group consisting of three balls.
In general, it is required for such marks to have the visibility, which allows the golfers to distinguish their own balls from each other. Further, in recent years, golfers tend to prefer the mark having luxurious and unique appearance. Japanese unexamined patent publication No. H11-114093 discloses a golf ball where the gloss or luster (brilliance) is imparted to the appearance of the mark. The mark is printed with the ink composition which comprises the pigment and metal powder, and the mark has a good and unique appearance having a metallic luster.
Japanese unexamined patent publication No. H11-319147 discloses a golf having the improved appearance of the mark. The mark is printed with the ink composition comprising the luster-developing component. The appearance of the golf ball was enhanced by reflecting such a light as sunlight efficiently.
In a method of mixing a metal powder or luster-developing component into the ink composition as disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication Nos. H11-114093 and H11-319147, the luster of the metal powder or luster-developing component is weakened by the tinting power (or opacifying power) of the pigment. Thus, the desired luster is not obtained. If the amount of the metal powder or the luster-developing component is increased in order to obtain the desired luster, the adhesion of the mark is lowered. Thus, the mark tends to peel off, when the golf ball is repeatedly hit. As a result, it is not possible to obtain the visibility, which the mark should inherently provide. In addition, if the mark is provided with the luster, it is possible to enhance the visibility of the mark from a long distance as well as impart the luxurious appearance to the mark.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above circumstances. The object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having the individualized appearance as well as the visibility, which the mark should inherently provide, by imparting the luster (brilliance) to the mark, without lowering the durability of the mark.
The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a mark on the surface of the golf ball body, and a clear coating layer covering the mark, the mark having a color tone satisfying Lxe2x89xa640 specified by Lab color system,
wherein the clear coating layer includes
the base resin; and
the luster material comprising a glass flake and a metal oxide layer coated on the surface of the glass flake.
Since the luster material is contained in the clear coating layer which covers the mark, the luster can be imparted to the mark without lowering the durability. Further, since the mark has a color tone satisfying Lxe2x89xa640 specified by Lab color system, the luster of the mark can be emphasized.